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Quadruped Robot: Past, Present and Future

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Quadruped Robot: Past, Present and Future International Journal of Scientific Research and Review ISSN NO: 2279-543X Quadruped Robot: Past, Present And Future Nikunj S Yagnik#1, Dr. Mehul M Gor*2 #Automobile Engineering Department, ADIT, Gujarat Technological University *Mechanical Engineering Department, GCET, Gujarat Technological University Abstract— As legged robots are most suitable to be operate in uneven terrain, it becomes more popular arena of research nowadays. Quadruped robot is superior among legged robots family in terms of optimization of speed and stability. Since long research on quadruped robot is carried out, however they are not commercially available. These shows there are lot of rooms of improvement and scope of research in quadruped robot. This paper discusses history of, early literature and contemporary development in the field quadruped robots. Challenges in the development and operation of quadruped robots are discussed. Few well known quadruped HyQ series, MIT Cheetah, ANYmal, BigDog, and StarlETH etc. are discussed in detail. Furthermore, various gait mechanisms, path movement methods, static and dynamic stability margins, power source, posture control, fault tolerant control and reconfiguration of these robots are discussed. Finally, the paper is concluded with the discussion on future development quadruped robots Keywords— Quadruped Robot, Legged Robot, Static Stability, Dynamic Stability. I. INTRODUCTION Legged robots have recognized to be a capable locomotion system, accomplished variety of tasks that conventional wheeled robot cannot do. Moreover, today’s reality is that it is the fast emerging field of study for researchers from a various field of engineering. Legs are indispensable part of humans or animals but development of legs for a robot is a tedious process[1]. In fact, how a baby learns to walk and the complete erudition curve involved was unnoticed. If we, the intellectual human being take years to learn to walk, envisage generating legs for a robot and teaching it how to walk. Even though, researchers are rigorously doing an extensive research on legged robot, but, they are still struggling to develop a legged robot which can duplicate human walk, or animals analogy for such matter. This paper is an overview of evolvement of specific quadruped (four legged) robot over period of time with future scope[2,3]. Developing legged robot is very changing composite task, but there are many advantages of legs over wheels. If we see all our living organism, they all carries legs rather than other mechanism, so as, they can adapt to any environment and different terrain. Legged robots have the biggest problem of stability and speed. Wheeled robots have biggest problem of locomotion on un-even terrain. Legged robots can steer on any kind of surfaces which is unreachable for robots with wheels. It is known to us that wheels are designed to work on organized surfaces like roads, smooth surfaces, prepared tracks/rails, etc., whereas legged robot has ability to move on variety of terrain. Legged robots can step up/down and jump or clear over obstacles whereas wheels need to change the part or somehow travel over it with ups and down. Wheels can move over a continuous path to be travel whereas legs can step over remote paths and move on. For example, if any particular city is hurt by an earthquake, which makes road surface discontinuous. In such incident, legged robots come into picture, which can make over uneven terrain. In many cases wheels with track can be also one of the solution. Legged robots can avoid undesirable footholds which cannot be avoided in a wheeled robot. Human and animal locomotion can be explore while development of the Legged robot. If we consider the steep, sandy, rocky, and undesired terrain, it is obvious that our brilliant invention of wheels turn out absolutely useless. Legged robot can be classify by number of legs been added to robot itself like One legged robot, Two legged robot (Biped), Three legged robot (Triped), Four Legged robot(Quadruped), and Six Legged Robot (Hexapod). One legged robot, name itself implies carry one leg which having a discrete ground contact. One legged robots are generally designed to be hopping robots. Such robots are dynamically stable and balancing can be done by changing its center of gravity and applying corrective forces to avoid falling when troubled. The typical benefit of such one legged robot is that every time they jumping up and move forward which makes them to move on any surfaces and overcome obstacles. Many times they can jump up larger, even more than ideal step. In one legged robot, controllable leg is only one so as developer can avoid leg coordination. In case of energy efficiency one legged robot is more efficient than robot with more number of legs. The major disadvantage is it’s complex design and control. Robots with two legs known as Biped robots, looks as human and continuously developed by various companies generally known as humanoids. These robots are dynamically stable and needs complex control algorithms to balance them when standing. Many such robots already been developed for example Honda’s “ASIMO” and Sony’s “QRIO” which can walk, run, stand and even dance. Three legged robots carries three legs which makes them statically stable because there are three contact points to ground. For static stability minimum requirement of three contact points to ground. For example the robot developed by RoMela knows as STriDer (Self-excited Tripedal Dynamic Experimental Robot) had three legs. Volume 8, Issue 6, 2019 Page No: 261 International Journal of Scientific Research and Review ISSN NO: 2279-543X One can easily walk with four legs which is more common in most of all animals that is why there is a good reason to replicate this in robots too. As like three legged robot, four legged robots are also statically stable (four contact point to ground)and the possible walking pattern of a four legged robot can be designed by either one leg at a time or alternative pairs. More number of legs provides greater stability. Hexapods (robots with 6 legs) possess greater static stability while moving and standing too. These robots are also biologically inspired as there are many insects with 6 legs. Most 6 legged robots mimic spiders, either wave gait or follow tripod gait. II. INCEPTION OF QUADRUPED ROBOT/MACHINE There is a long history associated with the evolution of walking machines/robot [3–6]. From the traditional time, world was inquisitive about development of artifacts that resembles to the animals and human. automatically steam-powered walking machines and mechanisms within the disguise of animals and human look may be derived back throughout the time of Greek civilization. abstract style and sketches of artificial systems and mechanisms capable of human locomotion appeared in Europe throughout the time of renaissance. The interest to understand the technicalities of legged locomotion discovered in nature and also the efforts to duplicate them to mobilize the artifacts by leg mechanisms are mentioned within the mythology and ancient scripts from the traditional Greek, Indian, Egyptian, and Chinese civilization[2].Although no technical details of the style and development of those ancient walking devices and also the associated mechanisms area unit accessible, the imagination and ideas propounded by them area unit quite fascinating and stimulating. The first quadruped machine, proposed by L. A. Rygg in 1893, named “The Mechanical Horse” [3, 10], Fig 1. The Mechanical Horse was proprietary on fourteen Feb 1893. The mechanism shows the stirrups were used as pedals in order that the rider might power the mechanisms. The movement from the pedals was transmitted to the legs through gears that might result the stepping motions. However, there's no proof to prove that he really designed this machine. Figure 1 First Quadruped Machine : Mechanical Horse[10] Bechtolsheim Baron patented a Quadruped machine in 1913. The proposed design is given below Figure 2. However, no evidence is available which shows such machine actually built. Figure 2 Baron Quadruped Machine [10] From the preceding dialogue it's clean that numerous novel ideas related to artificial taking walks mechanisms emerged from the conventional instances until the nineteenth century. even though the event of mechanisms dominated in maximum of the cases, other aspects of strolling machines like effort, sensing, and adjust were given little or no interest from the developers due to the technological bottleneck prevailing at the up to date quantity. however these inventions were nice inspirations for Volume 8, Issue 6, 2019 Page No: 262 International Journal of Scientific Research and Review ISSN NO: 2279-543X subsequent generation artificial intelligence engineers for the planning and development of extra advanced and extra delicate autonomous walking machines to perform the supposed tasks. It was marked by an intensive development of varied walking machines, and therefore the history of walking machines when the Second war is very quick and biological process and might be delineate among subsequent section. III. INITIAL DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN SCIENTIFIC WALKING ROBOTS After second world war, during 1950’s, a number of analysis teams started and develop walking machines in an exceedingly organized manner. Regarding the last decade later, various types of legged machines began to be designed and developed by totally different teams in laboratories. In 1960, Shigley, rigorously study linkage mechanism of walking locomotion. He proposed several mechanism name as Four bar chain, Cam linkages, Pantograph mechanism which can be useful for legged robots mobility. He developed a vehicle with four rectangular frame in which frames worked as leg. To ensure static stability distance between legs kept short as possible and two legs moves in pair for locomotion. The motion of legs was regulated by set of double rocker linkages and needs non circular gears for uniform velocity of foot motion.
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